The End is Here! by Kekeli Logoh

Hey, 

​Just wanted to give a little update on my project as it has come to an end. I remember telling you guys how much I hate my flies, but yet as I come to the end of my experiment, I find it terribly hard to dispose of 72-ish vials. I can’t believe I have grown to be attached to these flies. They’ve made me stay in the lab much, much, much longer than I needed to be there, go bananas from the fatigue of sorting them and performing assays, yet they’ve made me grow as person. They are the representation of my hard work. It’s just really hard to say goodbye to them. Moving on from that, my project has gone really well and yielded some unexpected results. At first, I believed that my experiment was going to be quite boring since I was going to be starving flies and starved flies are known to only live about an average of 3 days. My flies were able to live up to 23 days in starved conditions. That made my experiment so much better, but I will tell you that it was definitely not fun counting all the dead flies in each vial every single day. I’m proud of my experiment and I cannot help to overlook the fact that Ms.P lead me in the right direction for this experiment. Thank you Ms.P!

“At any given moment, you have the power to say this is not how the story is going to end” -Christine Mason Miller. The lab days may be over, but my life as a Tripian is definitely not over. My overall experience was positive. There were many days that I detested those flies for eating up my time, I grew to love them. It was a love-hate type of relationship. In the lab, I hated them, but at home they were a symbol of the excellent opportunity that I was able to gain. This was definitely a great representation of what it is like to be in a lab and a researcher. I do recommend signing up for TRIP even if you know you want to be a researcher or if you definitely know you don’t-- not just if you are unsure. You will be able to gain a greater insight in more than just research as Dr. Purdy does bring in people with all different types of backgrounds to help you learn more about what you may be interested in or how to combine all your interests. I mean I came into this program not at all knowing that I would have to create a graphical abstract (a nice way of incorporating the ‘A’ into STEM). Through this graphical abstract, some interesting results came out and through the persistence of Dr. Gardiner, I was able to create something that I’m truly proud of. A big thanks to Dr. Gardiner for going out of her way. It was much appreciated!
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As I mentioned in my previous post, TRIP teaches you way more than the skills of scientist. It teaches you life lessons along the way Sacrifice and dedication were the ones I mentioned previously, but I would like add the crucial communication skills, time management, and organization to the ever growing list. If you’re considering TRIP, please register for the program. If you feel unqualified, just do it because you may be surprised-- just like I was. Do not compare yourself to anyone before or after the program just understand and know that you bring the unique flavor to the plate. Be confident; I also learned lots of that from TRIP.
The beginning of a new page in my book labeled TRIP. I have decided to keep writing this story. I have joined the other alums and I’m so happy that I had this opportunity. TRIP will forever be engraved in my heart.